Monday, September 29, 2014

How not to prep for a show

Saturday, I ended up going to a schooling dressage show. It was sort of a last-minute thing - we'd planned on going to watch the AECs up near Dallas, but husband had a work crisis and couldn't go, and I didn't want to make the drive by myself. I got accepted into the dressage schooling show at the absolute last minute, but decided it was worth going since it would be Paddy's first time out since his injury. So all those show prep things that you usually do in the week going up to the show? Yeah, I did all that Saturday morning before my rides.  Definitely not recommend for best results!

So here's what I definitely won't be doing again for show prep:

Clipping your horse the morning of the show. Because nothing looks better than a pissed-off Haffie with a really craptastic clip job.

It looks like he's been nibbled on by rabid weasels. Please, someone teach me how to clip a horse so he doesn't have to be embarrassed that his momma clips him.

Neglecting to memorize your dressage tests. Because as I've already proven, I am past the age where I can possibly be expected to remember a dressage test. Fortunately, this show allows readers, so I just reviewed my tests right before going in the arena and relied on a reader to tell me what to do. Yes, it's like having a cheat sheet for a college final. I have a damn Ph.D., so I don't feel the least bit guilty about the cheat sheet. So there.

Not keeping your horse's mane tidy. I pretty much always wear a jacket for shows (even schooling shows), which means braiding if you're showing dressage. Paddy's mane is in that awkward stage between being not long enough to French braid but being waaay too long to do button braids. I decided I was too lazy to pull it, and Paddy's cute even with All The Hair, so we went with it. Luckily the judge still thought he was "adorable," so it was all good.

 Paddy's fan club also thought he was adorable. Photo courtesy of MC.

I DID manage to run a quick rag over clean my tack , wear white breeches, and use a clean white pad.  So we weren't completely ghetto. And we didn't do half-bad either...

14 comments:

  1. I pretty much did every single one of those things this weekend! Except I had time to pull the worst of Connor's length and was able to make slightly smaller braids. I did have to borrow a white pad from my trainer, and also neglected to look at my Dressage test until the morning of. Three cheers for skidding into the Dressage show and still riding well!

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    1. We get bonus points for lack of prep, don't you think?

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  2. Count me in the fan club. He's adorable.

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    1. He knows it and uses it to his advantage. Always.

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  3. Aren't you going to tell us how fabulously you guys did?

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  4. haha awesome. can't help you on the clipping thing bc i also fail miserably at that task... but i agree that Paddy looks super cute with all that hair just flying around :) looking forward to hearing out it went!

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    1. He looks super cute just about any time. I think it's his super power!

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  5. I highly doubt you looked ghetto or could look ghetto!

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    1. Oh, you haven't seen me riding in my paint-stained yoga pants, with teal flowered Bogg boots and a purple Ariat windbreaker. I'm about as ghetto as it gets... we just don't post those pictures here!

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  6. Hahaha, poor Paddy. He's obviously neglected!

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    1. Horribly neglected, mostly because he never gets fed. Someone should call the SPCA!

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